Minister says he ‘won’t be intimidated’ by home secretary as public row escalates | Immigration and asylum

An extraordinary public row escalated between Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood and one of her junior ministers after she said she would “not be intimidated” in response to calls for his removal.

On Thursday Mahmood demanded that immigration minister Mike Tapp be fired for writing an unauthorized article in the Times calling for overseas care workers to be exempt from controversial changes to immigration rules. But Keir Starmer has so far not sacked Tapp for clearly breaching the rules on ministerial conduct.

In the most visible evidence of a breakdown in discipline in the final days of Starmer’s time in charge of government, Tapp used account X to issue a defiant response. He wrote: “Okay, good morning. It went from ‘he broke ministerial code’ to ‘he stole my idea’.”

“I once expressed my views in an Op Ed (receipts in hand) regarding a policy I have been working on for months. Read it and let’s continue the discussion.”

Above a photo of herself, she added: “I won’t hesitate to leave my opinions. Stay classy! Oh, I’m at a wedding in San Francisco, but I’m happy to talk more when I get back (I promise it’s the Golden Gate Bridge obscured by fog).”

No 10 has so far refused to formally sack Tapp, saying “no decision” had been made by the prime minister on Thursday. But the pressure increased on Friday when another member of the government said it was “unwise” for junior ministers to speak out the way Tapp did.

The row comes as senior Labor figures are jockeying for leading roles in the possible administration of Andy Burnham, who is expected to come to power in 10th place as early as July 17.

Tapp wrote in an article for the Times that it was his “strong belief” that migrant care workers should not have to wait any longer to apply for permanent settlement in the UK. Mahmood was unaware that he had written the article, which a source close to him insisted he had written “to win business in the new administration”.

Tapp is understood to be involved in ministerial discussions about exempting care workers from proposed changes to indefinite leave. It is alleged that he took an idea put forward in these discussions and tried to pass it off as his own in the Times article.

Justice secretary Jake Richards told Times Radio the Home Office needed to “take a deep breath”.

He said: “Mike’s article in the Times sets out his views and some of the issues he has investigated at the Home Office. It is not wise for junior ministers to make this public. We are part of a team but he did it and we will deal with it as a government.”